BIBLE VERSES

This sermon was based on Exodus 19:4-6 & 20:1-17

Israel at Mount Sinai

4‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.5Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine;6and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”………….

The Ten Commandments

1And God spoke all these words, saying,

2“I am theLordyour God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

3“You shall have no other gods before me.

4“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.5You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I theLordyour God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me,6but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

7“You shall not take the name of theLordyour God in vain, for theLordwill not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

8“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.9Six days you shall labor, and do all your work,10but the seventh day is a Sabbath to theLordyour God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.11For in six days theLordmade heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore theLordblessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

12“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that theLordyour God is giving you.

13“You shall not murder.

14“You shall not commit adultery.

15“You shall not steal.

16“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

17“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”

KEY POINTS

God is a God Who Rescues His People

What tends to happen with this passage is that it tends to get made into a list, that’s ok but the bit of this passage that always gets left off the list is verse 2 where God says: ‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.’

God is saying ‘before I give you the rules I want to remind you, I’ve rescued you, I’ve saved you. It’s what I do’

That’s an important principle to remember about God, he always rescues first before giving the rules. Not the other way around.

He doesn’t give the 10 commandments back in Egypt and say ‘if you do ok at these, I’ll think about rescuing you.’ No, rescue comes first, then he gives the rules.

God is a God Who is Holy and Wants His People to be Holy

He rescues us…so we can become a holy people.

He rescues the Israelites because he wants them to be his treasured possession, his kingdom of priests, his holy nation, who reflect who God is, who reflect what kind of king he is. He doesn’t want Egypt to rule his people, God wants his people to be under his rule and his reign.

Like with any king or ruler, the nation that they rule will reflects his or her values, who they are, what they believe and what they value. So, God wants his nation, his kingdom to reflect who He is and he tells us about who he is in the 10 commandments.

He is a holy God. To be Holy means to be set apart, sacred, perfect. God being holy means his character is perfect, there is no flaw in his character, behaviour or actions, everything is perfect. He wants his people to reflect this, to be a holy people. The 10 commandments show us what it looks like to live a holy life. They show us what is required if we want to be his holy people.